Orange beef stew

This semester I'm working extra hours at the clinic and I've started a part-time study load so I'm experimenting with kitchen short cuts!

I've been a fan of the slow cooker freezer meal idea for years, and thought I'd start keeping track of some of our trials...

This Orange Beef Stew comes from the Mama Baby Love website.

I grabbed my pre-prepared bag from the freezer early in the morning and sat it on the bench to defrost enough for the bag to slide off.

The bag slid off nicely, and my frozen goods almost fitted entirely within the slow cooker. I added two cups of boiling water, put the lid on top, popped it on low, and when I came back an hour or so later it had settled enough to close the lid all by itself.

 

First stir - looks delicious, doesn't it?

The final result looks a little less appealing! I think there was too much liquid - if we make this again, I'll only add one cup of water. I added dumplings for the last 40 minutes or so which I won't worry about in future.